Canada Annual Inflation Rate Climbs 1.6% in September

Canada's annual inflation rate accelerated higher in September for a third straight month, as gasoline prices surged due to the impact of Hurricane Harvey on Texas refineries.

The all-items consumer-price index in September rose 1.6% from a year earlier, Statistics Canada said Friday, following a 1.4% advance in the previous month. The September rise was short of market expectations for a 1.7% advance, according to economists at Royal Bank of Canada.

Canadian headline CPI has climbed steadily since June, when it rose by a tepid 1%.

On a month-over-month basis, CPI rose 0.2%.

The average annual rate of Canadian core inflation, based on three gauges used by the Bank of Canada, edged upward in September to 1.6%, or an eight-month high. The three measures of core inflation, which aim to get a better read on underlying price pressures in the economy, ranged from 1.5% to 1.8%.

Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 20, 2017 08:45 ET (12:45 GMT)